Falling Into Place
by laurelsblue
Summary: Unfortunately for Naruto, Madara knows exactly how to pick his weapons. Spoilers all the way up to 450.


Falling Into Place

After the fight is over and the Kyuubi sealed, Madara wanders through the shadows of a devastated Konoha. Jinchuuriki are usually babies and the Yondaime would have not just used any child after all. It would be dangerous to try and take the child while he is still weak from the battle but there are other options if he's guessed correctly.

He finds what he's looking for in a private room of the hospital. The chuunin sitting in a chair next to the bed dies before she can scream. He recognises the stripes on her face marking her as a member of the Yakushi clan, a minor family specialising in medical jutsu. There had been a female Yakushi on the Yondaime's team, he knows, and the dead girl looked about the right age to be the same one. So if she was here...  
He turns to study the bed. The woman lying on it does appear to have gone through labour recently and he decides that she is probably the Yondaime's lover.

It had been very foolish of the Yondaime to leave a prize such as this unguarded. He runs his hands through her hair, fascinated by its colour and length. It's unusual for kunoichi to have such long hair and she is one. The subtle nicks and calluses on her hands that only come from constant weapon-handling testify to that much. He wonders what she does with her hair in battle.

She starts stirring and he waits to see what she will do. Once her eyes open, she glances around slowly. When she notices the dead girl, she doesn't panic but begins to reach for a weapon. He is interested to note that the closest one is one of the Yondaime's signature three-pronged kunai. Yes, she'll do nicely indeed. Just as she senses his presence, he is behind her, chopping her on the back of the neck. He lifts her off the bed, slings her over his shoulder and vanishes.

* * *

He learns her inside and out. Her memories are taken apart and examined for the slightest details. He knows that she hates coffee normally but craved it uncontrollably for the fourth month of her pregnancy. He knows that she does not have anyone in particular that she wants to fight but enjoys beating Jiraiya up for being a pervert. He knows that she has entrusted her dream of peace to her child but is unsure whether peace is actually possible.

* * *

He forges her slowly. Reconstruction is a lengthy process after all and rushing it could result in failure later on. Besides, as an immortal, time is always something he's had on his side.

* * *

Kushina realises that there must have been a time before Madara but it has never bothered her. If she has no memories before their first meeting, well, being a shinobi is a dangerous occupation and there are countless ways she could have lost them.

* * *

The Kyuubi brat is coming close to finding him. This is a confrontation he's been planning for nearly sixteen years and has considered it from every angle. He wonders what the boy will think of his final card.

* * *

The room is large with a deep pool in the centre. Designed for a water jutsu user, Kakashi thinks, and really wishes Tenzo was with them. At one end, there's the masked Akatsuki member sitting in a chair with a masked woman sprawled on his lap. The man is playing with her hair idly. She isn't wearing an Akatsuki cloak.

She bats his hands away before getting up and taking off her mask. Kakashi's eye immediately goes to her headband. It's engraved with a spiral symbol that he's only seen once before. There's a second band wrapped around her waist. The leaf on it has a line through it. He studies her and goes very still.

Naruto is fidgeting beside him, clearly wondering why they aren't fighting yet. Sakura glances at him worriedly, she seems to have realised that something is wrong.

"Sorry, the only way to Madara-sama is through me," the woman drawls, breaking the silence.

"Kushina?" Kakashi asks very quietly.

"Yeah, that's me, Uzumaki Kushina," she replies, excited and turns to the man. "Hey, Madara-sama, why didn't you tell me that I was famous?"

"Your Bingo Book entry wasn't that detailed so I hadn't realised that you had a reputation," Madara answers.

Naruto is staring in shock and Kakashi wonders if perhaps he should have had the talk with him earlier.

Kushina seems to notice Naruto's clan patch and looks confused for a moment before becoming angry.

"How dare you wear that? I am the last Uzumaki!" she shouts, furious.

There's a poof and suddenly she's standing on the pool's surface. Her hands are twisting into seals and the water begins to surge around her.

"He's your son, Kushina. Why don't you remember him?" Kakashi questions.

"My son?" she murmurs, glancing at Madara in a puzzled manner.

* * *

The room twists around her as the strange ninja vanish.

Kushina is shaking slightly. Just a training genjutsu, she reassures herself, but it had been very convincing all the same.

"Do you see now? They will try and trick you," Madara tells her.

"I understand, Madara-sama," she responds.

Under his mask, Madara smirks. Things have finally fallen into place.

* * *

The bit about Rin being a Yakushi is part of my personal fanon for her and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

All the things I mentioned about Kushina are taken from the third data book.

Have I mentioned that Madara is fun to write? Well, working with a character who practically exists to screw with people's heads is a lot more fun than I realised. You'll probably see a lot more of him in the future from me.


End file.
